#98 - #99: Krabby & Kingler

Ash's frothing Krabby in the anime. 

Game Freak are starting to contradict themselves here.

Why define Krabby as a 'River Crab Pokémon' and make its Pokédex entries say that they are most commonly found on beaches, where it burrows in the sand to create a hole to live in? Okay, Krabby are perfectly able to live in fresh water, but that is not the point. One could argue that beaches can be found along lakes and rivers as well, but most people associate a beach with the seashore, so I'm going to assume that the idiots at Game Freak don't have such a different thinking process. Aside from that, Krabby is not an interesting Pokémon in the slightest. The most notable thing to mention about Krabby is that it creates foam from its mouth, which it uses to shroud its body in order to make opponents think it is bigger than it actually is (which I'm sure is the trait of a certain real-life crab, just like its disability to walk sideways when it loses a pincer). Never mind its ability to regenerate its pincers when they get damaged during battles; some real-life crabs - you guessed it - can do the exact same thing.

Some nice fan art of Kingler holding its baby Krabby in its oversized pincher.

So what about Krabby's evolution? Well, Kingler's Pokédex entries only underpin my theory that the beaches mentioned in Krabby's entries are actually located at seas, because Kingler usually live along the edge of oceans. So, even though Krabby's classification as the 'River Crab' Pokémon is not strictly incorrect as it can actually be found along the edge of rivers, 'Crab Pokémon' would have sufficed. These kinds of inconsistencies really bug me for some reason. What doesn't bug me is Kingler's flavor. This Pokémon's claws, especially its larger left one (Kingler's name is actually a portmanteau of two crab species, namely the king crab and the fiddler crab, the latter of which actually has a larger left pincher), can pinch with a crushing strength of 10,000 horsepower and are even able to pry open Shellder and Cloyster's diamond-hard shells. The most interesting thing is that Kingler's left pincher is a hindrance as well: it is so large and heavy that Kingler can barely lift it, it causes balancing and aiming issues, and it causes Kingler to become fatigued quickly from continuous use.

Awesome realistic interpretation of Kingler!

Fortunately, this claw doesn't get in the way in competitive play. Well, except when you say that its claw actually makes Kingler slow, but its base 75 speed is not that bad; plus, there are Pokémon that are much slower than Kingler, so this is hardly a valid argument. Even though a Scarved, Jolly-natured Kingler might be an option within the Smogon tier it resides in (the unofficial PU tier), this comes at the expense of some of Kingler's strength. Its magnificent base 130 attack stat allows it to hit HARD, so might as well make the most of it by running an Adamant Kingler with a Life Orb, the Hyper Cutter ability (prevents the opponent from lowering its attack somehow) and the moves Agility and Swords Dance. Agility raises Kingler's speed by two stages, while Swords Dance does the same with its attack stat and Knock Off and Crabhammer (the strongest physical water-type move in the games, which can only be learned by the Krabby, Corphish and Clauncher lines) provide for excellent type coverage. Superpower might also be an option, should you want some more type coverage, but be cautious, as this move lowers Kingler's attack and defense stats and those are undoubtedly its best stats.

Kingler is blessed with three outstanding abilities, but as mentioned previously, Hyper Cutter is the best one. Shell Armor prevents it from getting critical hits, but its low special defense and HP might make it useless, and Sheer Force removes additional effects of certain moves in exchange for a little more power, but the only good physical move Kingler learns that benefits from that is Rock Slide, which it isn't gonna use anyway. Well, at least not in the competitive scene.

More fan art of Kingler.

And here's the thing: I actually like Kingler's strength, design and flavor and I would love to use it in a playthrough once. Should that happen, a Sheer Force Kingler with Swords Dance, Crabhammer, X-Scissor and Rock Slide might be a good option, considering that Kingler probably won't outspeed half of the Pokémon it encounters and thus won't make opponents flinch all that often. Sheer Force is Kingler's hidden ability, however, so it might be a difficult task to get one with that ability, but even without it, Kingler makes for an excellent Pokémon that hopefully won't disappoint me. For now, I'll give Kingler 4.5 stars, but who knows how much I'll like it in the future after using it once. Who knows...

Rating: 4.5/5